


the Way to the Citadel

by almostdefinitelydying



Category: MMFR, Mad Max (2015 Video Game), Mad Max Series (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Catharsis, Grief, Loss, M/M, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-28
Updated: 2016-11-26
Packaged: 2018-08-18 10:19:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8158676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/almostdefinitelydying/pseuds/almostdefinitelydying
Summary: Ace recounts the memory of how he made his way to the Citadel, and how he lost everything he ever loved on the way there.





	1. Warpup Shenanigans

In the hustle and bustle of normal citadel life, normal by warboy standards anyway, Ace often finds himself the target of more than a few warpup pranks. He's their favourite full grown to pester, seeing as he never gets angry with them. Not really. Not in the way many of the other full grown boys get angry. He might yell at them, but it's all bark, no actual bite. 

This time it's a couple of the newest pups, having gone through the painting rite and they have now been dared by the other pups to pull a prank on Ace. Their own version of a rite of passing (and much more fun than the painting rite). So they've snuck into his bunk near the WarRig and stolen his tools. And the Citadel has many, many fine hiding places. After a bit of hushed debating, they finally decide to hide the tools inside an old snake hole down the corridor. There hasn't been any snakes in the Citadel for years now, but the holes are usually left alone anyway. Nobody really knows why, they've never even seen a snake, none of the full grown warboys have either. But they still shy away from the holes, as if a whisper of a long dead instinct still linger at the back of their minds. Collectively.  
It's also one of the few places they know Ace won't be too eager to stick his hands into. He's seen snakes before. At least that's what he's told them in his old stories- stories about how the world was before the fall. Before Joe came to save them all. 

They scurry off to hide when they hear him approaching, but they stay close by. For small pups, there are just as many fine places to hide as there are for small, stolen treasures. Or tools. Of course, being pups, they're not exactly champions at hiding things, and Ace quickly sees where the handle of his wrench protrudes from the hole in the wall. He hesitates for a little bit though. His memory of snakes are still vivid enough to make the instinct more than just a faint whisper. Back before the world fell, they had people who would come to your house to collect them, if you were ever to find one in your living room. Living room.. that's a combination of words he hasn't used in many years. He pushes the thoughts away.. they're of no use to him now. The world is different. He has to be different too. 

Ace takes a few deep breathes, trying to push past the old fear, and reaches for his wrench. Under his breath, he mutters; "you're gonna get it ya damn pups. I'll make sure Furiosa knows, if I get behind on my repairs." The pups exchange glances, with a sudden flash of fear in their eyes. Furiosa. He wouldn't really tell Furiosa though, would he? They hope not. They would never dare pull any pranks on her. But Ace's hand stops an inch away from the hole. And he just stands there. Staring at it. Staring at his hand. He sighs deeply, and drops his hand down. He doesn't feel especially kamakrazee when he's so afraid of a little old snake. Not even a snake, just the memory of one. 

One of the pups start to feel bad, having watched Ace. Pranks are supposed to be funny, but this doesn't feel very funny anymore. He climbs out from the pile of tyres he was hiding behind, and walks carefully over to Ace. They look at each other, and the pup mirrors the sadness he sees in Ace's face. The pup reaches into the hole and pulls the tools out, one by one. "There isn't a snake in there you know.." he says in a small voice. "He left long ago.. or got eaten". Ace chuckles, surprising them both, and takes the tools from the pup. He's not even mad anymore. "Probably got eaten.." he says to the pup. "Maybe not tell anyone about this?" he says not even looking at the little pup standing next to him. "Yeah, we won't.." the pup says almost in a whisper. And his fellow pup crawls out from hiding, having heard "we", and joins them. Taking the other pup by the hand, and sucking on his thumb. "We won't.. if you don't tell Furiosa" he mutters around the thumb in his mouth, and his eyes still have a twinge of real fear in them. Ace lays a hand gently on the boy's shoulder and says "I was never really going to tell her anything.. don't worry little one." And both the pups exhale, not realising they'd both been holding their breath.


	2. Reminiscing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ace starts telling the pups about his past.

"I can't be too hard on you pups anyway.." Ace says with a loving sigh. "I used to do the same thing when I was a pup.. but that seems like such a long time ago now" and his voice trails off at the end.

Wide eyed, one of the pups ask: "YOU were a pup??"

"Hey, I'm not THAT old" Ace huffs, but it turns into a throaty giggle instead.

"I was a pup before the world fell.. when all of this used to be water." "Aqua Cola" he corrects himself.  
"You've seen the Aqua Cola that Joe summons for the wretched sometimes?" he asks them, but doesn't really expect an answer. He's entered into his old-man-reminiscing mode and just keeps talking, albeit in a softer voice.

"When I was a pup, these lands were filled with Aqua Cola. Water is what we called it. There were so much of it you could SWIM in it!" and he mimics the movements of swimming he can still remember. Both the pups laugh and try to "swim" along with him. Ace chuckles at the two pups "swimming" in the air around him in the dusty hallway. The light of the setting sun makes the dust glitter like diamonds around them. A small moment of magic in an otherwise unforgiving universe, and he can't help but marvel at its beauty. "Please tell us more about swimming!" one of the pups chirp, snapping Ace out of his moment of revelry. A sadness creeps back into his eyes. He slumps down to the ground, dust whirling up around him, and the two pups sit down across from him.

"Before the world fell.." he pauses, as if the memory is something he has to manually pick up and lift out of the darkness of time. "Things were different. But it was also the same.. it's hard to explain" he mutters, looking down at the ground beneath his feet. Dirt and sand, dry and coarse. Lifeless. "The world was green, like the top of the Citadel is now, but the fights people had were the same. Fights for water.. for food. For places to live."

The pups glance at each other, not understanding what Ace really means, but they let him continue his story without interruptions. Stories are rare after all. The warboys only ever tell of the Gospel of Joe, and Miss Giddy doesn't like to talk about the words on her skin with anyone but the Wives.

"But then a lot of people made the world sick.. They threw large thundersticks at each other." and he gestures up at the sky. He had spent so many years trying not to think about it, that when he finally summoned the memory, it was like he could see it all over again. Fire raining down from the sky. The land shaking beneath them. Trees splintering and being swept away by the shock waves. Tsunamis and then drought. Like the world had no in betweens anymore. It was all polar extremes, all the time. Now with a side of radioactive fallout, and the chaos that followed when humanity's greatest societies crumbled like hollowed out papier-mâché.

"And all the aqua cola went away. I'm not really sure how, but that doesn't change the fact that it did.." his voice trails off again, and he watches the last glimmers of light over the horizon dance on the roof above them. It reminds him of the kaleidoscope he had when he was a kid.. a pup. Was there even really a difference? Hadn't they always just been small tribes of warboys and warlords? Even before the world fell.

"What used to be towns, became war zones." "And the war zones became kill zones."

The pups have both listened intently, holding hands, and not interrupting, but the bigger of the two can't really contain himself any longer. "How old were you REALLY, before the world fell?" he blurts out, and his face flush red underneath the white body paint. The question catches Ace so off guard he looks like someone has smacked him in the face. He bursts out laughing.


End file.
